July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Edward Snowden’s request for asylum
was spurned by nations from Switzerland to India as the U.S.
pressed internationally for the return of the fugitive leaker of
classified documents.

Three exceptions were Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador,
countries critical of U.S. policies that said they would
consider taking him in. Snowden at last report remained in limbo
at an airport in Moscow after withdrawing his request for
sanctuary in Russia. He sought asylum instead in 20 other
countries, according to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

U.S. officials have been contacting countries Snowden might
approach for asylum or pass through on the way to a third
country to provide “reasons why Mr. Snowden should be returned
to the United States and face charges here,” State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki said yesterday.

“What we’ve been communicating is, of course, what we’ve
been communicating publicly -- that Mr. Snowden has been accused
of leaking classified information,” Psaki said at a briefing
for reporters in Washington. “He is somebody that we would like
to see returned to the United States, of course, and we are
hopeful that, that will happen.”

The effort to repatriate Snowden is being led by Vice
President Joseph Biden and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
as the situation is being treated as a law-enforcement issue.

Biden’s Message

In a call to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, Biden
didn’t just communicate the reasons Snowden should be returned.
He also let Correa know that relations would “strongly
deteriorate” if Snowden were allowed to come to the country,
the Ecuadorean leader said in a June 29 radio address.

Biden’s call to Correa, which was confirmed by U.S. Deputy
National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, sent a message to all
countries that might consider granting asylum to Snowden. Psaki
wouldn’t specify what other nations the U.S. had contacted or
what exactly was said.

Snowden, a former worker for government contractor Booz
Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., has said he was the source of
leaks on top-secret U.S. programs that collect phone and
Internet data. Russia won’t hand him over to the U.S. to face
espionage charges because of human-rights concerns, according to
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

Snowden withdrew his application for asylum in Russia after
Putin said July 1 that the American must stop hurting U.S.
interests if he wants to remain there.

Wave of Rejections

“Theoretically, Snowden could stay in the Russian
Federation, but with one condition -- that he give up his
intention to carry out anti-American actions,” Peskov told
reporters yesterday. “As far as we know, he refuses to do so.”

In a wave of rejections yesterday, Poland turned down
Snowden’s asylum bid, saying it didn’t meet the requirements for
political refuge, and India said it saw “no reason” to shelter
him. Italy is “evaluating the situation” and will make a
decision “very soon,” Ansa reported.

The Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Ireland and
Austria said asylum applications are only considered when made
by people inside their territory or at the border. Snowden,
whose U.S. passport was revoked, can’t leave the Moscow airport
transit zone without a new travel document.

Snowden’s asylum bid in Germany failed as he didn’t meet
the requirements, according to a spokeswoman for the Federal
Foreign Office who commented on condition of anonymity in
keeping with government policy.

‘Soap Opera’

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who held talks
yesterday with Putin after a gas exporters’ conference in Moscow
the day before, said he’ll consider any request from Snowden
once he arrives back in Caracas after a stop today in Belarus.

Snowden’s Russian stay is becoming a “soap opera,” Maduro
said in an interview with Russia’s RT television network that
was also aired on Venezuelan state television.

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales told RT television
yesterday that his country is ready to consider Snowden’s
request. Morales’s return to La Paz from the energy conference
in Moscow was later delayed when his plane was denied permission
to fly over France and Portugal amid speculation that Snowden
was aboard.

The refusal of overflight rights required Morales’s plane
to land in Vienna, according to spokesmen for the Austrian and
Bolivian foreign ministries who discussed the matter on
condition of anonymity citing their governments’ policies.

‘Baseless’ Rumors

Snowden wasn’t aboard the plane, according to the Austrian
official, who said local authorities controlled the passengers’
passports. Morales’s plane was still in Vienna as of early
today, the official said.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said late
yesterday that France and Portugal put Morales’s life at risk by
not allowing his plane to fly through their airspace due to
“baseless” rumors that the plane was carrying Snowden.

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said his country
is still considering asylum for Snowden although it’s not
helping him leave Moscow. Patino told reporters in Quito last
night that his own communications have been “hacked” and that
his government found a hidden microphone in its embassy in
London.

Patino also said Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, should stop speaking on behalf of
Ecuador. Assange, who has said his group is advising Snowden,
has been holed up for a year in Ecuador’s embassy in London to
avoid extradition to Sweden. He is wanted there on questioning
about sexual-assault allegations, which he says were politically
motivated.

European Protests

The Snowden case has shaken international relations, with
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week warning China and
Russia of “consequences” of their actions in spurning U.S.
extradition requests. U.S. officials later shifted to a more
conciliatory approach, and President Barack Obama said that
“some useful conversations” have been held between the U.S.
and Russia to resolve the issue.

European countries including France and Germany protested
to the U.S. on the latest revelation stemming from Snowden’s
releases after a report in the German magazine Der Spiegel that
the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped and infiltrated
computer networks of the European Union. The report cited
classified documents in Snowden’s possession.

“The question is not which country will grant Mr. Snowden
asylum,” WikiLeaks said yesterday on its Twitter Inc. account.
“The question is which countries still have an independent
executive.”

WikiLeaks Claims

The anti-secrecy group pointed to a report by the
Associated Press that cited three unidentified American
officials as saying the Obama administration is trying to
convince Russia to expel Snowden to the U.S. or to a third
country, possibly in eastern Europe, that would then hand him
over to U.S. authorities. The report is evidence that “the U.S.
is plotting to render Snowden via eastern Europe to the U.S.,”
WikiLeaks said.

WikiLeaks published a statement on July 1 that it
attributed to Snowden in Moscow, which would be his first
comments since leaving Hong Kong more than a week ago.

“The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of
using citizenship as a weapon,” according to the statement
attributed to Snowden. “Although I am convicted of nothing, it
has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless
person.”